Political interference with Coroner unacceptable

Political interference with Coroner unacceptable: "Watch in 2011 for the outcome of an Ombudsman complaint filed by the BC Civil Liberties Association in relation to the coroner's resignation described below. It should, at the very least, be an interesting investigation.

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You may not be thinking of it right now, but how you die may have political consequences for the provincial government. Recent media reports have suggested that the government is taking steps to limit their exposure to these political consequences by starving our Chief Coroner’s office of resources to investigate deaths, and by reducing the Coroner’s independence to speak the truth about those investigations. They also say this political interference led to the resignation of the Chief Coroner of B.C., who was the first medical doctor to hold the job in decades, and who lasted just eight months in the position.



Political interference with the coroner, and Dr. Diane Rothon’s unexpected resignation, will make British Columbians less safe. It will reduce oversight of police in a province with the highest per capita rate of police deaths in Canada. Both are major issues for British Columbians.



The Coroner plays a critical role of investigating sudden, unexpected and unattended deaths, and making recommendations that various policies be amended or introduced to prevent similar deaths. For virtually every police death the Chief Coroner holds a public inquest, very much like a trial. These inquests have been the only way outside of police press releases for the public in B.C. to get details on wrongful police deaths.



A Coroner’s investigation of a death may expose chronic underfunding of a vital healthcare or mental health service. It may find that a new weapon like the Taser was inappropriately introduced. Maybe someone died on a construction site and the Coroner might discover that WorkSafe BC hadn’t been doing a good job of inspecting or enforcing orders. Perhaps a child died in foster care, and the Coroner says that negligent provincial policies or agencies contributed to the death. The independence and unpredictability of the Coroner’s recommendations and hearings is a major political risk for the provincial government, and police and child welfare authorities alike.



Although the headlines may be unpredictable and uncontrollable for government, the inquests and inquiries that lead to those headlines must remain, and become even more, independent. If you die because the provincial government or some private actor screwed up, wouldn’t you want people to know the unvarnished truth about your passing? If for no other reason than to make sure that nobody else dies the same way? Would you want the manner of your death to be spun by the provincial government’s PR agency?



That’s why the law says that the Coroner’s office must be independent, and free from interference. That’s why the law says anyone who interferes with a Coroner’s independent duties commits an offence.



Apparently someone in the provincial government thought the Coroner’s independence was a dead issue, easily buried. With Dr. Rothon’s high-profile resignation, it seems that the Coroners Service in B.C. is about to get a lot more politically lively.

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